Stockton (1898) The Girl at Cobhurst – 1st – Margaret Armstrong (BAL 18930)

$50.00

Out of stock

Description

Stockton, Frank R. The Girl at Cobhurst. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1898) Cover design by Margaret Armstrong. First edition run of 10,000 (Publishers Weekly, March 28, 1898)

12mo. [4], v-vii, [1], 408 pages plus 4 pages of advertisements. Hardcover. Bound in green, linen-textured, cloth-covered boards stamped in black and gold with a design by Margaret Armstrong.

Condition: Near Fine. Covers are bright and crisp with a thin line of what appears to be paint along the bottom edge of the spine. (See photos – colors may vary from  actual book)

“Like “Captain Horn” and “The Late Mrs Null,” this novel has not appeared serially, and the ingenious surprises of its on folding o’clock or the better for this reason. Its scene is a little country village, to which comes the hero of the tail and his sister; and the French cook (widow of an “artist”) and the crotchety, match-making old maid, who’s simultaneous endeavors to lead the hero’s affections in opposite paths produce some truly Stocktonian intricacies, are creations which could have come from no other pen than the author’s. As Mr. Howells has well said, “of his kind he is the first and only.” – Blurb from back of the book.

 

“Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children’s fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century.

“His most famous fable, “The Lady, or the Tiger?” (1882), is about a man sentenced to an unusual punishment for having a romance with a king’s beloved daughter.” – Wikipedia

 

A standout amongst her contemporaries, Margaret Neilson Armstrong (1867 – 1944) was noted for her use of symmetry, bold bookcloths (textured, unusual tones), and dynamic ink colors. Included in the cohort of important nineteenth-century women book cover designers – and arguably the most prolific, with over 270 designs to her credit – Armstrong’s works reflect her strong interest in the natural world and apply Jugendstil, or Art Nouveau, motifs. In addition to a guide to wildflowers, she later wrote mystery novels and biographies. Over 100 of her wildflower drawings and several of her publishers’ bindings are in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. – City University of New York website